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SC-12(6) SC · System and Communications Protection

Physical Control of Keys

LOW MODERATE HIGH
1 Overlay 0 Related Controls
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Requirements NIST SOURCE

Maintain physical control of cryptographic keys when stored information is encrypted by external service providers.

Discussion (NIST Supplemental Guidance)

For organizations that use external service providers (e.g., cloud service or data center providers), physical control of cryptographic keys provides additional assurance that information stored by such external providers is not subject to unauthorized disclosure or modification.

Implementation Guidance

Engineering Interpretation

Original engineering commentary written for this explorer — not NIST source text and not authoritative guidance.

No engineering interpretation has been authored for SC-12(6) yet. This section is architected to receive it — see the Requirements and Assessment sections above for the authoritative NIST source content in the meantime.

Assessment

NIST SP 800-53A REV 5.2.0

Assessment Objectives

  1. physical control of cryptographic keys is maintained when stored information is encrypted by external service providers.

Examine

[SELECT FROM: System and communications protection policy; procedures addressing cryptographic key establishment, management, and recovery; system design documentation; system configuration settings and associated documentation; system audit records; system security plan; other relevant documents or records].

Interview

[SELECT FROM: System/network administrators; organizational personnel with information security responsibilities; organizational personnel with responsibilities for cryptographic key establishment or management].

Test

[SELECT FROM: Mechanisms supporting and/or implementing cryptographic key establishment and management].

Overlays

Showing the OT/ICS overlay for the parent control SC-12 — see the SC-12(6) entries within each baseline below.

OT/ICS Overlay SP 800-82r3

NIST SP 800-82r3 Appendix F, Table 22. Blank baseline means the control/control enhancement is not selected in that initial OT baseline.

LOW

  • Base control: Included (matches standard baseline)

MODERATE

  • Base control: Included (matches standard baseline)

HIGH

  • Base control: Included (matches standard baseline)
  • Included: (1)

STIGs & CCIs

No STIG checks or CCI mappings are currently loaded for SC-12(6). This section is architected to display, per product: STIG ID, Finding ID, Severity, Title, Description, Check, Fix, CCI, and NIST control mapping — but nothing is populated here until a real DISA STIG/CCI dataset is ingested.

Learn more about STIG/CCI integration →

Evidence

Potential Evidence — Derived

Categorized from the SP 800-53A "Examine"/"Test" artifact list above by keyword — not an authoritative NIST evidence list.

Policy

  • System and communications protection policy
  • system security plan

Configuration

  • system design documentation
  • system configuration settings and associated documentation

Testing

  • Mechanisms supporting and/or implementing cryptographic key establishment and management

Other Records

  • procedures addressing cryptographic key establishment, management, and recovery
  • system audit records
  • other relevant documents or records